Electrical synapses
*Gap junctions *are channels that are super imposed so ions can flow through the gap junctions. They work bidirectional. In example in the retina there are many electrical synapses. Electrical synapses are built for speed, they are much faster than chemical synapses. Electrical coupling further is a way to synchronize neurons with one another. (This is very important for communication, i.e. Neuron C only fires when input from Neurons A and B simultaneously
Electrical vs Chemical
| electrical | chemical |
|---|---|
| primitive | highly developped |
| bidirectional | polarized |
| gap junctions | active zones |
| no delay | 0.5 ms delay |
| calcium indepenedant | calcium dependant |
| temp insensitive | temp sensitive |
| large | thousand of small ones |
| limited function (excitatory) | versatile (ex and inhib) |
| synchronized activity | specificity point to point communication |